<p>Colorado starting pitcher Jason Marquis, right, is congratulated by coach Tom Runnells after Marquis pitched a two-hitter to become the first 10-game winner in the National League, leading the Rockies over the Dodgers 3-0 Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.

MLB: Dodgers can’t get to Colorado starter, who throws two-hitter in victory.

The Dodgers’ slow crawl to Manny Ramirez’s return continued Tuesday against the Colorado Rockies as the offense sputtered yet again.

The Rockies’ 3-0 victory at Dodger Stadium was just their second over the Dodgers this season in 11 meetings. The Dodgers have lost five of their past seven games.

This one, though, might have just as much to do with Rockies starter Jason Marquis as it did the Dodgers’ fading run production.

The right-hander threw a two-hit gem and beat Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley in the race to 10 victories.

“He was on and he had his stuff tonight,” the Dodgers’ Matt Kemp said of Marquis. “It was just another pitcher that went out and did his job. He kept us off balance and was throwing strikes. We couldn’t get it going today. He had his A-game.”

Marquis (10-5) even knocked in a pair of runs, touching Billingsley (9-4) for a two-run single in the seventh inning.

The first four Dodgers batters were retired before James Loney singled in the second inning. Marquis then went on to retire 19 consecutive before Juan Castro singled with two outs in the eighth.

Making little to no progress against Marquis, the Dodgers were only in Tuesday’s game because Billingsley was holding up his end of the bargain. The right-hander matched a season high with 11 strikeouts while working 7<MD+,%30,%55,%70>2/<MD-,%0,%55,%70>3 innings.

“The last few starts I had been struggling a little bit with my breaking ball and my mechanics were a little off,” Billingsley said. “I found that today. It was a step forward for me from previous outings.”

The Dodgers limped into the series against the Rockies having lost four of their past five games. In the series opener Monday, they need a Randy Wolf two-run single and didn’t score again for eight innings until Andre Ethier hit the winning home run in the 13th inning.

Nobody in the clubhouse is calling this lull a direct effect of Ramirez’s impending return. But a sense of urgency seems to have vanished, as if the Dodgers are collectively fried from covering for Ramirez the last two months.

Manager Joe Torre has cautioned against expecting much in the way of immediate production from Ramirez, but even if he doesn’t deliver right away with the bat, it seems as if he will add an emotional boost.

Torre went as far as talking to the players Monday about not letting all the Ramirez talk dull their edge.

“With all the conversation about it, maybe (it’s had an effect),” Torre said. “But for me, I don’t think that would have anything to do with the pitching. The pitchers get the ball every week and they get their one opportunity every five or six days. They’re a different breed, the pitchers, because their focus is different. I don’t think it’s that but for certain, we have to make sure we pay attention.”

For the most part, though, what has happened since Ramirez was ushered away has been far from a negative. The Dodgers entered Tuesday’s game with the best record in the National League since May 7, when Ramirez’s 50-game suspension started.

The Dodgers are 28-21 since then, just percentage points behind the Rockies for best record over that stretch.

Torre admitted the Dodgers’ play since Ramirez has been away is not what he expected.

“In a lot of ways I’m surprised by our record, but I’m not surprised by how well we’ve played for the most part,” he said. “We’ve been lucky in a lot of ways. We’ve had a lot of walk-off situations, played a lot of close games at home where we’ve had the opportunity to steal one, so to speak.

“The thing that’s probably been a pleasant surprise is how consistent our bullpen has been. We made a lot of changes from spring training to where we our now.”

Billingsley did his best to avoid tapping into the bullpen again, but like Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez was Monday, the Dodgers’ right-hander was burned by his opposite number.

“Billingsley was great and I told him he went after it today,” Torre said. “He certainly pitched well enough to win. He battled as he always does. His command was much better than it has been recently.”